Friday, March 30, 2012

Then there's a variance - or six, thus "The best-laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry"

Back in an earlier post there was the general idea of divesting myself of 40 years of accumulated manly-man tool 'stuff' and then selling this house and moving on to an apartment to await next year so I could move to Gran Canaria and live happily ever after with Bridget.

Well, that last part is still in the plans - but the rest - we've met the enemy and he is me.

So here's the modification...

As I post this I’m in the middle of selling the house and a significant portion of a 40-year collection of ‘stuff’. Winnowing out what goes and what I keep versus what the son gets – and he’s gonna get a lot of stuff, tools and family memorabilia.

But in a few weeks I’ll be pared down to the true essentials and the son’s stuff. By late May I’ll load all that into a U-Haul and tote it to him in Sacramento. I’m planning to not leave anything behind here in Texas – except my ‘official’ residence for driver’s license and vehicle plates etc. After delivery I’ll fly back to SA.

I’ll tow that behind a long-bed F150 pickup. I purchased a 2005 F150 fancy XL off of eBay on 3/29. Flying to Vegas on Monday 4/2 to pay and drive it back!

The Boulevard will go up a ‘Big Boy aluminum MC ramp’ (Big Boy Motorcycle Loading Ramps ) into the bed of the pickup where it will nestle nicely as we move our ‘home’ from place to place.

So in mid-June I’ll grab what’s left and head back to California, meeting the son and three grandsons in the eastern Sierra’s for a week’s camping.

All this means that by the 7th of July I’m gonna be ready to travel! The idea is to travel 50 to 350 miles in a day with the whole rig. Stay out in the boondocks if possible or find an inexpensive campground and park the whole rig. Stay in some sort of a campground if I’m gonna be riding for a smidgeon of security for the truck and trailer.

Being a native Washingtonian I’m going to go visit the family graveyard and see some old childhood haunts, knowing full well that they’re not as I remember. Visit some still living relatives, as I’ll probably not see them again – at least in this lifetime.

On the MC touring days I’ll unload the MC and ride whatever nearby twisty’s there are whether that takes a day or two. Then I’ll load’em up, wash, rinse and repeat. Don’t have to be at any one place at any time so the schedule can be adjusted as necessary as long as I meet the end date in September to be back in Sacramento.

For some folks this may seem like way too much regimented planning and not enough go-with-the-flow. But this sort of general planning seems to me to outline an idyllic summer holiday.

We'll assess how this plan survives when we meet the 'enemy' of the road.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Moving on from being in one location for years to a new location is an exercise in evaluating the stuff that accumulates as one lives in one place for years.

What is important and what is not? Hurrumph. It was all important once. Now?

How does one sort the stuff that has been life?

Old directions. Old hobbies. Old learning.

That's a perfectly wonderful winter coat, but do I need a heavy winter coat if I do not intend to live in the snow and cold?

All those mundane objects are relatively easy to deal with, but tools. Tools have been my life - professionally and personally.

Oh, the machinist tools are easy-ish. Don't need the micrometers and such. The 3/4" heavy-duty socket set is a no-brainer. The years and years of accumulated nuts and bolts are gonna go too. But all these tools going out of my life is like losing an old friend that was always there when needed.

Too much stuff. Too many memories. Too little time for a proper goodbye.